Background

The ‘International Symposium on Managing Land and Water for Climate-Smart Agriculture’ aims to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge among soil, water and environment professionals from developed and developing countries to advance the understanding, collaboration and capabilities to respond to the impact of climate change in a rapidly changing global environment. It will also draw on lessons learnt, current status, with a focus on new development of nuclear and isotopic techniques to enhance the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises that impact agriculture and food security, such as emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), climate change and nuclear or radiological emergencies.

Objectives

The objectives of the symposium are to:

• review recent development of nuclear, isotopic and related techniques to improve land and water management practices under changing climate and to minimize the impact of radiological emergences on crop production;
• provide information on the development of tools and technology packages to build soil resilience, adapt farming practices to the impact of climate change, as well as to nuclear or radiological emergencies; and
• identify knowledge gaps, research needs and new opportunities to develop climate-smart agricultural practices to build capacities and transfer of technologies to Member States.

Topics

The symposium will cover the following topics related to land and water management under climate change and radiological emergencies:

• Plant nutrition and nutrient cycling for enhancing crop productivity and on-farm ecosystem services.
• Soil conservation, land management minimizing soil erosion, land degradation, improving soil health, increasing biodiversity and crop production.
• Agricultural water management for improving water use efficiency, threats/impact to agricultural water quality.
• Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Tracing agricultural and industrial pollutants and assessing their threats to crop production and environmental sustainability.
• Advances of nuclear-based instrumental and analytical techniques applicable in soil and water research.
• Integrating nuclear techniques with other advanced techniques such as digital technology in agriculture, GIS, deep learning and modelling techniques.

Audience

The symposium is aimed at participants drawn from and including:

• United Nations system and CGIAR organizations, such as FAO, UNEP, the World Food Programme, IITA, Alliance Bioversity, CIAT, IRRI, CIMMYT, CIP, etc.
• Scientists, academics, research managers and laboratory personnel
• Policy makers from governmental, non-governmental and international organizations
• Donor agencies – international, regional or national organizations, foundations and trusts
• Potential partners at the international, regional or national level.

The IAEA welcomes and encourages the participation of women, early career professionals and individuals from developing countries.